WASHINGTON, May 24-- Ed Tapscott stepped down as president and CEO of the Charlotte Bobcats to pursue other interests on Wednesday, according to the NBA club from Charlotte, North Carolina.

Tapscott was the first employee hired when the NBA gave Charlotte the expansion Bobcats, and he oversaw the process of building a competitive NBA franchise from the ground up.

"I would like to thank Eddie for helping to build a basketball team that will grow into a playoff contender," said owner Bob Johnson in a statement.

President of Johnson's RLJ Companies Van Sinclair will tackle the role as acting president and chief operating officer immediately.

Johnson did not give any reason for the departure of Tapscott, who was promoted to CEO a little over two months ago. He retained his title as president after the promotion.

The Bobcats went 18-64 in their first season, but improved to 26-56 in the past season.